The winter solstice is the shortest, darkest day of the 12 months. Relying on who you’re, that’s both trigger for despair or a winter solstice celebration. For those who stay in Iran or are a part of the Iranian diaspora, that celebration is Shab-e-Yalda. Additionally known as Chelle, Yalda is a Zoroastrian competition that marks the longest night time of the 12 months, one which usually stretches into the morning hours. “You’re celebrating the sunshine profitable over darkness, and triumph and rebirth,” says Nilou Motamed, the tv host and choose.
An important a part of Yalda is meals, particularly these symbolic of well being and vitality. Purple fruits like watermelon and persimmon are synonymous with the Yalda desk, as is khoresh fesenjan, the wonderful Persian pomegranate and walnut stew. “What I really like about it’s that it has a taste like nothing else,” says Motamed. “It form of seems like brownie batter. Probably the most compelling a part of it’s the method it tiptoes between candy and bitter; it ricochets round your palate. It’s a kind of symbolic Iranian issues: The candy comes with the bitter.”
Motamed, who was born in Tehran however fled to Paris together with her household within the wake of the Iranian Revolution, grew up consuming the fesenjan that her mom, Mahin Gilanpour Motamed, had been making all her life. The recipe, which is reprinted beneath, requires pomegranate molasses and juice; utilizing each makes the stew lighter and fewer acidic, says Motamed. She additionally loves the “floral high quality” of the juice. But when there’s one rule about fesenjan, she says, it’s this: “All the time eat it with rice.” Fesenjan conjures up sturdy opinions, and for good purpose: It’s one of many oldest dishes in Iran, and likewise some of the prized. And for Motamed, additionally it is considerably entwined together with her personal historical past: It originated within the north of Iran, which is the place her mom’s household is from.
Motamed, who lives in New York, has been excited about Iran recently. Ever for the reason that September 16, 2022 demise of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old lady who died after being arrested by Iran’s spiritual morality police for carrying her hijab “improperly,” which many blame on the police, the nation has been roiled by widespread anti-government protests and accompanying crackdowns by safety forces. The humanitarian disaster spurred Motamed to grow to be actively concerned with #CookForIran, a global marketing campaign that seeks to construct group and consciousness via meals. Quite a few restaurant cooks and residential cooks have taken half within the initiative, which additionally raises funds for the Middle for Thoughts-Physique Medication’s Iran program.
“Our purpose is that by cooking and celebrating Persian meals, [cooks] can help the courageous Iranian ladies and men combating for his or her fundamental human rights,” Motamed says. “We hope that each meal somebody makes and hashtags permits extra folks world wide to expertise what we expect is one among our signatures, which is hospitality.”
In her personal life removed from Iran, “it’s at all times the meals that will get us somewhat nearer regardless of the overarching distance,” Motamed says. Every chew of fesenjan is a bit of sunshine triumphing over darkness. Simply bear in mind to eat it with rice.
Khoresh Fesenjan (aka Khoresh Fesenjoon): Persian Pomegranate and Walnut Stew Recipe
Serves 6
Substances:
1 pound chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons impartial oil, divided
1 candy onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
½ teaspoon freshly floor pepper, divided
3 cups pomegranate juice, reminiscent of POM
4 to five tablespoons pure pomegranate molasses, reminiscent of Al Wadi
1 small rooster, minimize into items, or 2.5 to three kilos skin-on rooster thighs and legs, ideally bone-in
Juice of ½ lime
1 tablespoon sugar (to style)
½ cup pomegranate arils
Rice, for serving
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 levels. Unfold the walnuts on a baking sheet and bake till toasted, about 10 minutes; watch out to not burn them. Take away and permit to chill fully. Reserve a handful of nuts for garnish.
Step 2: Add 2 tablespoons of oil to an 8-quart nonstick Dutch oven. Add the onion and shallots and ½ teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Flip the warmth to medium and slowly saute till the onions and shallots are translucent. Take away half the combination and put aside. Proceed to saute the remaining onions and shallots till golden, about quarter-hour.
Step 3: Whereas the onions are sauteing, mix the walnuts with the pomegranate juice, in batches if essential. You’re in search of as clean a consistency as doable right here.
Step 4: Add the walnut and pomegranate combination to the golden onions within the Dutch oven and prepare dinner on low for quarter-hour, stirring commonly.
Step 5: Add the pomegranate molasses and prepare dinner over low warmth for at the least 1 hour, stirring ceaselessly. A great trick to keep away from scorching the underside of the pot is to depart a flat-bottomed picket spoon resting within the pot, in order that the warmth is carried out away from the underside. You actually can’t stroll away from this, which is nice as a result of you could have rooster to prepare dinner.
Step 6: Whereas the stew is decreasing, season the rooster items with the remaining turmeric, salt, and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to an enameled forged iron skillet and brown the rooster items in batches till they’re gentle golden. Don’t crowd the pan or your rooster will steam. Then add the reserved onions from Step 2 and prepare dinner collectively for 10 minutes. Scale back the warmth to medium-low and add ½ cup of water. Cowl and prepare dinner for half-hour till cooked via. Switch the rooster to a clear plate and take away the pores and skin.
Step 7: By this level the stew will likely be effectively on its method; the consistency you’re in search of is sort of a thick and shiny porridge. A sheen from the walnut oil must be rising. That is your likelihood to style the fesenjan and modify the steadiness of candy and bitter with lime juice and sugar to style.
Step 8: Add the rooster and a few of the rooster broth to the walnut and pomegranate sauce. Cowl and prepare dinner on low for 20 minutes, stirring sometimes.
Step 9: Serve in a big bowl and garnish with pomegranate arils and handful of chopped walnuts. I additionally suggest serving with basmati rice with tahdig and chopped Shirazi salad as an accompaniment.
Word: All Persian stews style higher the subsequent day, so you may make fesenjan a day forward and reheat.
Dina Ávila is a photographer in Portland, Oregon.
Recipe examined by Ivy Manning
